New rules in effect for Colorado marijuana edibles Feb. 1

Colorado’s pot industry will face its first major regulatory shift of 2015 on Sunday when popular but controversial infused edibles will be forced to comply with new packaging, labeling and potency restrictions passed last year.

Under the new regulations, edibles sold recreationally must be wrapped individually or demarked in increments of 10 or fewer milligrams of activated THC, the major psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. The state’s recommended dose is 10 milligrams. Edibles packaging, too, is changing as new, more child-resistant restrictions go into effect.

New edibles regulations

Packaging: Each standardized 10-milligram serving must be demarked “in a way that enables a reasonable person to intuitively determine how much of the product constitutes a single serving of active THC.”

Labeling: There will be more explicit warnings and thorough information on labels, including warning statements such as “This product is unlawful outside the State of Colorado” and “The intoxicating effects of this product may be delayed by two or more hours.”

Potency: The Marijuana Enforcement Division is providing incentives for companies to produce 10 milligram products by putting greater burdens on manufacturers of products between 10 and 100 milligrams.

Often considered pot for beginners, edibles make up roughly 45 percent of the legal cannabis marketplace in Colorado.

But the first year of legal sales was not without problems. The death of a Wyoming college student who jumped from a Denver hotel balcony after eating an infused cookie, a surge in the number of children brought to emergency rooms for accidental marijuana ingestion and the sheer popularity of edibles with tourists led to calls for tighter regulation.

The changes grew out of the findings of a work group that included representatives from the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division, the industry, parent groups, hospitals and law enforcement agencies. And while the switch is costing pot businesses, the industry is speaking out in favor of the regulations. Consumers stand to benefit, not just from rules that should make consumption safer but in cut-rate prices in the short term.

“In clearly marking what the dose is, hopefully that will lead to more responsible use and public education,” said John Lord, owner of LivWell, which has nine pot shops in Colorado. “It keeps us safe, and it provides uniformity for the product itself.”

The Post requested comment this week on the new rules from the state Marijuana Enforcement Division, but a spokeswoman said no one was immediately available.

Tracy Bowman, left, talks with Jane Webb about Mad Mint edibles and Dixie One drinks at LivWell Broadway in Denver. The marijuana business, like others, is marking down prices because of tougher state regulations that go into effect Sunday. (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post)

Playing it safe

An example of the shift is seen in Dixie Elixirs’ popular infused mints. The mints used to come loose in a tin, 10 mints at 10 milligrams each (100 milligrams total). Dixie’s new mints come packed individually in blister packs, similar to some pill and gum packaging, 16 mints at 5 milligrams apiece (80 milligrams total).

The reason behind the lower potency: Dixie is playing it safe, making sure the now-individually wrapped edibles wouldn’t surpass 10 milligrams apiece — hoping to cash in on the state’s new incentives, including less stringent testing, for low-dose products. The new mints as a package also are less likely to top the state’s 100-milligram limit. If a recreational edible tests for more than 100 milligrams of activated THC, its maker risks being forced to destroy the entire batch.

“A lot of us are being conservative when we approach product development,” said Dixie marketing chief Joe Hodas. “Instead of pushing the upper limit of a 100-milligram product, we’d rather put out a 90-milligram product.”

Ricardo Baca is the founder and editor of The Cannabist, legal marijuana's paper of record and a division of The Denver Post. Fortune magazine ranked Baca as one of the seven most powerful people in American cannabis while the Brookings Institution...